His Lost Life
by Moon Minamino
Summary: Loosely Inception based. Kurama wakes to find that his relationship with Yuusuke was just one very long dream. Hiei works to solve the mystery of why Kurama has returned to a life of crime. Kurama/Hiei, Yuusuke/Kurama Rating may change.
1. Prologue

**Moon:** Just here for my usual disclaimer. I wrote this while very sleepy; Ryuuie beta'ed for me. This is loosely based on Inception, if you haven't noticed, but it is not a crossover. This prologue is as close to the movie as we'll come on this little adventure. The pairings are Yuusuke/Kurama and maybe Hiei/Kurama. I'm not 100% on the pairings. I have this planned out, but you never know what can happen when and if a story takes a life of its own. I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Please enjoy and, if you like this (or don't), please leave a review. Thanks.

* * *

Kurama's POV

Urameshi Yuusuke and I have had a wonderful life together. We have grown old together. After four years of friendship, we evolved into lovers in a very peculiar way. I remember he came home from the Makai and kissed Keiko on the beach. And, I remember that it was the first time we had all been in the same place at the same time for a long time. Almost two years. Though I suppose that's not entirely true – Hiei wasn't there. But, at the time, that wasn't important. What was important was that Yuusuke was back and we were all together. He and Kieko were making out, finally solving that little love spat that had been going on for what I am sure amounted to years.

The Spirit Detective had been out of a job for three years now, and it had been two years since the Tournament. He had been training with the others for twenty-four entire months, though it seemed like decades. The next one was scheduled for a year and there was a new demon on the scene. Koenma was worried, but the weird thing was, so was Yuusuke. New demons pop up everyday, but they were concerned for the future of the three worlds; they wanted to check out his odd power that manipulated one's sense of time.

I agreed to be the test subject. How could I say no when Yuusuke asked? So they caught him and I let myself get hit by one of the attacks. I remember falling asleep for a moment, and when I woke up I felt no ill effects. Yuusuke was so grateful-he kissed me. And I didn't even think to ask about Keiko or why because I didn't need to. We loved each other and I was blinded to all else.

For some reason, I'm not sure why, the others were listless during this time. I supposed they were angry at me and, I suppose, I understood that. Keiko and Yuusuke were supposed to be together. That was the script, the fairy tale ending, the right thing. Whether they avoided us or we avoided them, I'm unsure. All I know is, soon Yuusuke and I had taken up residence in the Makai. We led a rather reclusive life together and, occasionally, Yuusuke would get antsy. I think that was the only thing we ever fought about, but hey, no relationship is perfect.

We calmed down together, though. I didn't need the chaos that came with thievery or the love that came from family because I had him. Besides, all of our human family and friends were long dead by this point. We had been together for at least a thousand years. I'm not entirely sure on the number – when you're a demon with a life that spans not just centuries, but millennia, you lose track of time. Yuusuke and I aged at about the same rate and for that I was thankful. We grew old together.

Every day was the same routine, but it never grew boring or tiresome. I would rise first, awoken by Yuusuke's snores. I would make breakfast and he would wake to its smell. After eating, we would spar until lunch, when I would hunt small game. After lunch, I would go off to my study and read or research or tend garden until dinner. Yuusuke used this time to travel a bit in the Makai and catch up with friends who lived in a nearby town, but whom I never saw. He would bring dinner home with him and I would eat. An after-dinner romp through the bedsheets followed and then we would fall asleep, entwined in each other's arms until morning. And the pattern repeated.

I had noticed the first signs of aging on him – his hair was turning white. And then I noticed I was getting wrinkles. But I honestly didn't care. Vanity held little satisfaction for me now that I had him. And so we spent our twilight years together, holding and speaking to each other in soft voices. And we were satisfied. Neither of us needed any more. And we both basked in the realness of it all. When you have spent so much time with a person that you can't even count days or years or millennia anymore, you have found eternal bliss. We had found a life that fit us and we were at peace.

And then I woke up.

"Kurama, man," Kuwabara's voice came rasping from the dead. Hadn't he died long ago? "We thought you were a goner. Yukina's healing that nasty wound on your head."

Yukina? I did feel her healing presence just as I saw Kuwabara's orange mop top in my face. But how?

I looked down and noticed long diminished red locks falling over my shoulders. Hadn't my human body died thousands of years ago?

The biggest shock, though, came when he walked in. "Kurama! You've been asleep for, like, eighteen hours. That demon did a job on you! But don't worry, I killed him. Dude . . . why are you looking at me like that?"

I watched as my lover, who had miraculously aged backwards into his teenage human body, looked at me with a disapproving, worried look.

Finally I managed, "Asleep . . .?"

"Yeah," Kuwabara responded. "For eighteen hours. We were worried there for a while. We weren't sure you were going to wake up."

"I've been asleep for eighteen hours . . . and . . . just eighteen hours ago I was fighting . . ." I struggled to remember the demon's name, the new one that Yuusuke and Koenma had been so worried about millennia ago, but I couldn't find the name.

"Chronos. Yeah. You fought Chronos about eighteen hours ago and ever since you took a hit from him, you've been asleep, man."

Yuusuke's words floated over me.

So it was all . . . just a dream?

* * *

Yuusuke's POV

I walked into the room after hearing Kuwabara's raspy voice proclaim Kurama awake. I entered the room and watched fox-boy look up at Kuwabara as if he had risen from the dead. "Kurama!" I made myself known. I was happy he was alright. "You've been asleep for, like, eighteen hours. That demon did a job on you! But don't worry, I killed him." I stopped. Kurama was looking at me like I was the only person in the world. The look he gave me was too intimate for a friend to give another friend. "Dude . . . why are you looking at me like that?"

Kurama's eyes widened and he looked a bit hurt, which was weird since, well, fox-boy just doesn't have emotions. I think I once heard Yomi say that Kurama was a master of thinking logically, coldly, and without emotion. I always thought that made him sound like a robot, but this display, while subtle, was a big difference from what I usually saw from him. But then again, I had been gone for two years, training in the Makai. Maybe he had gotten more emotional in the time we had been apart.

Kurama surprised me when he spoke. "Asleep . . .?" He seemed desperate to scream; like a murder victim who wanted to shake a ferry girl and proclaim, "I'm alive! This death is just a lie!" I have never, in all the years I've known Kurama, seen him look so desperate.

"Yeah," Kuwabara responded. "For eighteen hours. We were worried there for a while. We weren't sure you were going to wake up." I nodded along to Kuwabara's words. Chronos's attack had seemingly just put his victims to sleep, but often they didn't wake up. Near the end of his nap, Kurama's heart had slowed and his breathing had gone shallow. We had feared his death until, finally, he had awoken.

"I've been asleep for eighteen hours . . . and . . . just eighteen hours ago I was fighting . . ." Kurama's face pulled into a look of frustration, fear, and concentration.

"Chronos, yeah," I supplied. I wanted the fear to go away. Kurama was beginning to frighten me. "You fought Chronos about eighteen hours ago and ever since you took a hit from him, you've been asleep, man."

Kurama looked at me as if his whole world had just crumbled. He wanted to cry; even Kuwabara noticed. Yukina withdrew a little bit, giving the older demon his space. Whatever Chronos's attack had done, it had shaken Kurama up.

I watched as Kurama tried to regain control of his emotion. "Hiei showed up a couple hours ago when border patrol finished. I think he wanted to see if we had handled the Chronos situation, but I don't think he'd ever admit that. He's at your house now. Do you want to go home, Kurama?"

Kurama's look of pain returned at the word "home." Why was that such a painful concept for him? Slowly I walked over and put an arm on his shoulder. "What's wrong? Kurama, what happened?"

Kurama stiffened the second I touched him, but he made no move to pull away. "Nothing, Yuusuke. I am fine." The lie wasn't very convincing, and we all knew it, but I didn't call him on it and neither did anyone else. "Yes, I do believe I'll go home now, Yuusuke."

And with that, Kurama got up and left.

* * *

Hiei's POV

In all the years I've known the fox, he has never displayed emotion. So, imagine my surprise when he entered his room, drenched from the downpour outside and crying. I suppose, to the untrained eye, his tears would have blended in with the rain, but I knew. I had never seen Kurama in pain until this moment.

He ignored me completely, something he never did. The redhead fell into bed, soaking his blankets, and sobbed into his pillow. I frowned. "Shut up, I'm trying to sleep." I would never tell him I was worried or ask what was wrong, and he knew that. This was as close to a reaction as he'd ever get from me.

Kurama froze for a moment, as if noticing I was there for the first time since entering. He shook his head and left the room. He was gone for an hour before he came back. He was freshly showered and dry, dressed in pajama pants just as he was every night. His face was a passive neutral.

"So you've regained control over yourself?"

He didn't answer again, but sat on the drying bed and pushed a bowl of rice over to me. He ate nothing and I made no comment on the matter.

After I finished my rice, he took my bowl to the kitchen and returned. He turned off the light and went to bed, just as he always did. And I watched.

He stayed awake all night. That was unlike him. At first I thought it merely insomnia, or that he was too tired to sleep, as sometimes happens to fighters with too much adrenaline and not enough energy. But as the hours passed, I came to find a different reason in his less-than-passive face. Every time he started to drift off, he would jerk awake with a look of fear or dread on his face. I pretended to be asleep as I watched, but he knew I was faking.

Finally, he spoke his first words of the night to me. "Is this real?"

"Don't be stupid, fox," I snorted out in disgust. "Do you honestly think that, in your dreams, I would be this mean and demanding?"

For some reason, that seemed to soothe him and, just for a few minutes at a time, he allowed himself to drift off into a shallow, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Kurama's POV

I suppose it would be a lie to say it just got easier, as if I became numb to the feelings of hopelessness I felt whenever I saw Yuusuke or Keiko together, or to say that every time I saw one of my human friends I was not overwhelmed with the feeling that they should not be alive. Even my mother could not make me forget the dream I had, or cure me of its effects.

Hiei's words that first night had helped, though. With the exception of Yuusuke, nobody I knew had been in my dream. I had avoided seeing them, or just secluded myself. Maybe my subconscious had not been capable of reproducing them, or maybe I had known deep down that it had been a silly dream, but knowing that I could reach out and touch Hiei or tease Kuwabara or compliment Yukina kept me grounded. I knew I was not still asleep. I did not have to deal in the realness of the reality surrounding me. With the presence of others, I felt sure that I had not created another dreamscape.

I did not tell Yuusuke or Koenma or anyone else what had happened. Chronos was dead, so it didn't matter if they knew the truth. I tried my best to go back to the way I had been before. I tried to tell myself that none of it was real, that it had only been eighteen hours and not thousands of years. But I could feel myself slip.

Every time I saw Yuusuke, I felt a pang on unfathomable loneliness and sadness. It was if my very soul was being repeatedly torn from its pathetic shell and was being crushed by a thousand pounds of force created by the very gaze of Yuusuke's chocolate eyes. I would catch myself staring at him. Or Yuusuke would catch me. Or Hiei. Hiei had been following me around since the accident, as if he knew the truth.

He could very well have figured it out. I was loosing my passive, calculating face. I couldn't remove myself emotionally from situations anymore. It was all too overwhelming. Some of my slips were overt – Yuusuke and Kuwabara, dense as they were, would catch them. Most of my slips, though, were subtle. But I knew Hiei always caught them. And in turn, I caught his worried gaze more than once.

It was worst when I saw Keiko. Mostly, I was jealous. My animalistic instinct told me to remove her as a threat and assert my rightful claim over Yuusuke. Less so, though, and probably more powerfully, I was ashamed. I wanted what she had. In my dreams, I had removed her so completely from the picture without question. I felt like I had committed some great injustice against her, and that I should apologize. After all, she had been there first.

But hadn't I been there longer?

No, I hadn't.

The more intense the feelings of loneliness, rejection, and depression became, the more I wished to leave. But what would I say? "Sorry, Yuusuke. I'm in love with you and secretly want Keiko dead?" No. I wouldn't tell anyone what had happened. It was too . . . weak. I mean, I had no previous feelings for Yuusuke. Before my dream, he had only been a friend to me. And now, after nothing had changed, I wanted to throw myself at him. I couldn't just go back to being the friend that I was to the boy.

But everything had changed. And in a way, I felt justified in wanting to leave.

The lies came easily. I mean, think about it. Yuusuke had Keiko. Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan were best friends – almost like sisters. Yuusuke also had Kuwabara, and Kuwabara dated Yukina, who connected Hiei to the whole mess. And Hiei and Yuusuke had become more and more like brothers since the first time they had fought. The entire group was interconnected, except for me. Sure, I could argue that I was Hiei's friend and that brought me in. But I wasn't Hiei's friend, not really. Nor was I Yuusuke's . . . at least not in the way they were to each other. I was the odd man out, or at least that was what I convinced myself. And so, I left. Because, really, I couldn't live knowing that my entire life had been a lie.


	2. Escape

**Moon:** So here is chapter one! My beta this time was Vrictare since the always lovely and wonderful Ryuuie was busy this week. Same warnings and disclaimers apply as prologue. It seems to be a running theme with this story that I write it while very tired, after a bit of rum. Now, in other news, there are three author's notes with this chapter, one before and two after. Please read them before/after the chapter! Thanks!

AN 1 - A note on timeline. It is stated in the series that Yuusuke will leave for three years. Roughly nine months to one year in demon world, Raizen dies. 100 days after Raizen's death, the first tournament was held. This was the last time Yuusuke saw Kurama or anyone else until returning to human world after his remaining two years to spend in demon world. The tournament is held every three years, so it has been just over two years since the first tournament. The next tournament to decide the ruler of demon world would, by my estimation, be held in about 250 days. Also, at the beginning of the series, Yuusuke and Kuwabara are 14. Kurama is 15. The series spans the length of four years, so Yuusuke and Kuwabara would be 18 and Kurama would be 19.

* * *

Kurama's POV

The way I left . . . well, it wasn't intentional. Or conventional for that matter. I was going to just slip out quietly into the night, never to look back again. And I did. Several times. Because there was just one problem . . . that part about looking back again. I had spent nineteen years of my human life protecting and looking out for my mother. I won't say it was the last nineteen years of my life because, well . . . to me it wasn't. But every time I snuck away, I had to go back because knowing that I was leaving here after taking a nap was just ridiculous to the small, logical part of me that still existed.

So I needed a permanent way out. Suicide crossed my mind once or twice, but I'm not that weak or desperate. I'd rather go kill Keiko and take back whats mi-

No. I will not go there. That's too tempting to even think about. Let me try again.

So I needed a permanent way out. Something that would keep me alive and well while simultaneously keeping me from coming back. I still had no idea where to go or how to go about implementing this permanent solution. I still didn't even know what this permanent solution was.

I needed to be patient. The opportunity and solution would present themselves in due time; I would think of a way to solve this equation. Until then, I just had to wait.

Waiting was the hard part-I began to cut myself off from the group, if only to hide my lapses in emotion. There were no more tears; Youko Kurama does not cry. Shuuichi Minamino does not cry. Crying indicates hopelessness. Hopelessness only comes when there are no possible solutions left, no matter how insane they may seem. I did not cry when my mother almost succumbed to her illness; I acted. I did not cry when Yuusuke was killed by Sensui; I acted. And when Yomi came to me, telling me he had the man who had blinded him imprisoned and that I would be his advisor, or else, what did I do? I acted. Now would be no different. There is no challenge I cannot overcome. Except sometimes, acting means running away. I've run away before-the day my silver hair turned red is a perfect example of how running away has served me in the past. I see no weakness in it, only the will to survive. And I would not survive here, surrounded by everyone I thought to be dead, gone, or, dare I say, of romantic interest.

I waited to run away. I waited through all the phone calls from the guys, the ones begging me to come out of hiding. The "Why are you ignoring me, Kurama?"s and the "What's wrong? You can trust me, I'm your friend!"s. These made it harder, yes. But I stayed resolute. Rarely did they manage to find me, and only on those occasions did I come out to mingle with the rest of this god-forsaken team.

* * *

Yuusuke's POV

"Kurama is just . . . getting on my nerves! I mean, come on! What was his deal!"

"Geeze, Urameshi," Kuwabara answered, giving me that "I'm better than you" look, "Calm down, okay? He just wants to be alone. Let him work things out on his own."

"That's the wisest thing you've said all week, Kuwabara," Hiei finally spoke up for the first time today.

"Yeah!" I looked at Hiei, face turning read from the mere amount of will I was putting into my glare, trying to spontaneously combust the tiny fire demon. "Why are you even here! Trouble in bed with Makuro?"

"Makuro and I are not lovers, detective, and you'd do well to remember that. I do not trust so lightly," Hiei snapped back with a stare to match my own, and I looked away first.

"Yeah, whatever. Can't get into her pants is what it sounds like to me," I muttered under my breath before getting back to the subject at hand. "I don't care what he needs! I mean, I do! Which is the point! Kurama has never done this before. Hiei, you've known him longer than any of us; you know that this solitude cannot be good for him."

"As I understand it," Hiei gave me an icy look-reminding me that, yup, he is definitely part ice apparition-"After he and Yomi parted ways, he became a solitary bandit. He and Yomi parted ways over a thousand years ago, Yuusuke. That means he's been on his own for one thousand years. Being confined, alone, is probably good for him: he's used to it, its what he knows; he probably finds comfort in it. Whatever Chronos did to him, it made him seek out this solitude. Maybe he's reverting back to his Youko ways; maybe he craves the chaos of a good steal or some other atrocity from the old days. Just leave him be and let him work it out on his own-its better for everyone that way."

"Man, Hiei, that has got to me the most I've ever heard you say in one breath."

"Shut up, Kuwabara."

I sighed and turned away from the ensuing bickering match. Hiei did have a point. The Youko was old. Hell, he probably knew Raizen when he was a kid! How the Youko hadn't become one of the three demon lords was still a mystery to me. But still, I worried.

"Where is he right now, Hiei?" I finally asked, stopping the fight between swordsmen.

"How the hell would I know, detective?"

I tapped my forehead.

"Hn." Hiei closed his eyes, though, and I saw the Jagan glow under his headband. "That thing he calls a library." I nodded and got up, walking away from them.

"Where you goin', Urameshi!" The dense one yelled after me.

"That thing he calls a library!" I shouted back. I heard Hiei give a "hn," and I'm sure he disappeared before Kuwabara even realized what had happened.

I took the train, since the walk would be too long. The air was muggy and filled with the stench of the demon world. With the barrier down, per the new King's ruling, the human world often picked up the demon world's stench whenever the wind shifted just so. I could even smell the odor on the train.

The train stopped at the university and I got off. I stopped a random guy and threatened him to tell me where the university's library was, or else. He pissed his pants and I sighed. How come no one could ever answer a simple question! Finally I found a map and tracked down a building I had never seen before. When I entered, though, it was filled with books, so it had to be the right place.

It wasn't hard to find Kurama; his red hair stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowds of black. I snuck up on him and he seemed genuinely surprised when I shouted "Boo!" My outburst and his shout of surprise earned us looks of disapproval from the studying teens around us, but I pretended not to notice.

"Yuusuke, what . . . ?"

"Kurama, lets go on a walk." I fixed him in a stare and his gaze quickly fell to the floor. He nodded, somewhat hesitantly, and got up to leave with me after packing away his things.

We were outside before I tried saying anything, but I failed. What do you say to a two thousand year old fox with a depression problem? I sighed and steered us toward a park. That would help, right? I mean, foxes like nature . . .

"Yuusuke," he began once we entered the forested area behind the playground, "Is there something you wished to tell me?"

I nodded, but remained silent, taking us deeper into the forest. Finally, "I think we're being followed."

He nodded, and then: "I felt it, too. Its been following since we entered the woods."

I took notice of the word "it" and said, "So it's not human, then?"

"The next tournament is in, what? 250 days? It's probably looking to knock out some competition early."

"So it got past Hiei's boarder patrol? Must be strong." I smiled, but my love for battle wasn't shared by Kurama this time. He made a noise that could be taken as agreement, or just to fill the quiet void between us. I frowned at this. "Well lets take him out, and then talk."

He nodded and we turned simultaneously, both of us assuming fighting stances. The thing came out from behind a tree. It was a horned demon, probably level C if its demon energy was any indication, but still, you could never be too careful. Chronos was just a level B, but he had managed to take down S-class demons.

I smiled and raised my index finger, pointing it at the demon, but before I could fire my spirit gun, it was in my face and had punched me so hard, I flew back and crashed through several thick-trunked trees. One of the trees dropped a branch and it embedded itself in the earth, sticking straight up.

I saw the demon raise its hand, its palm glowing with red energy to shoot towards me.

"NO!"

That's all I heard Kurama say before the demon shot his energy straight at me and Kurama jumped in its path, no barriers up. His weaker human body was thrown up in the air. I watched as it crashed back to the ground and landed on the tree branch I had knocked perpendicular into the earth, impaling him right through his stomach.

The blood drained from my body. I wordlessly let the demon within take over. My hair grew, but I didn't feel it. My hand raised, but I didn't feel it. I killed the demon, but there was no glory in battle as I fired the shot.

Numbly, I walked towards his body. I knelt, next to him. His body was still a few inches off the ground, slowly falling on the spike. I reached out, but I knew he was already dead.

And then he began to glow. A soft, white light overtaking him. I watched as this light gathered at his heart and formed itself into a perfect nine-tailed fox. It floated from the body of Minamino Shuuichi slowly, looking at me with haunting yellow eyes. And then it blinked, looked away, and shot off into the universe. Seconds later, a ferry girl who's name I didn't know came to collect Kurama's soul, but it had left.

* * *

Kurama's POV

My heart stopped. The blast would kill my lov-I mean . . .

Without thinking, or preparing myself, I jumped in front of the blast. I felt myself fly, and then fall. And then, the most peculiar sensation-I was back in my fox form. I was floating . . . Where had I felt this before?

I looked down at my body, lying there, lifeless, and then I looked into Yuusuke's chocolate brown eyes. This was my chance. I could run away without the option of returning. So I looked away and ran.

I found myself next in my regenerated Youko body, the one that had resurfaced during the Dark Tournament, the one I had learned to retake at my leisure during the battle with Sensui. I sat up, looking at my ghostly white hand. I was . . . alive. I was alive and I had escaped from the agonizing life that came with living in a world in which your dreams never came true.

A sadistic smile danced on my lips. The chaos from stealing, the life of crime I had put behind me-that would fill the void left by Yuusu-no. By my dream's absence. And I would lose myself in this chaos, just as I had after Kuronue's death. And I would become the man I once was.

"Youko has returned, they cry."

* * *

AN 2 - A note on Kurama's life as Youko. In the series, it is stated that it took Yomi 1000 years to become a demon lord after Kurama tried to kill him. Kurama was not a a kid when he and Yomi worked together, so I estimate Kurama to be about 2000+ years of age, not counting the 19 years spent as a human. It is also stated in the series, by Yomi, that Kurama became a solitary bandit after he tried to kill Yomi. I would also venture to guess that, somewhere during that 1000-year-post-Yomi period, is when Kuronue came into the mix. I'm not 100% on this because the movie is not a reliable source of intel (as it was done through a separate production company). I imagine Kuronue was one of the few people Kurama was closed to after the Yomi incident and because of that, Kuronue's death would be something to set Kurama off.

AN 3 - The ever wonderful Yumi is doing some artwork to accompany this chapter. A link to the picture will posted in my profile sometime over the next few days.


	3. Chaos, The Thrill of Living

**Moon:** There was no beta this time, partly because no one was around and partly because I'm unsure about this story. I have gotten virtually no feedback on this story and it makes me nervous. I'd prefer bad reviews to no reviews, because at least that way, I'd know what people thought. Is this story a waste of time? Please, if you have any thoughts or comments, please take time to leave a review and make an author's day. Regular disclaimers apply.

* * *

Kurama's POV

Chaos. The deliciously maddening trill that came with every stolen object, every bit of destruction, and every maddeningly unsolvable riddle laid out before an unwilling foe in the middle of a lush, forested path of green in an otherwise dead forest. This was my world. This was where I belonged.

I have never wanted power—that was Yomi's gig, not mine. Theft was, for me, a type of nourishment. Cast out into a harsh and unforgiving world as a child, I made the best of my situation. And what better way can one learn to cope with a chaotic world than to love it?

I'm a bit of a clepto, I do admit, though I wouldn't call myself a maniac. Shiny things are nice, but they alone do not drive my instinctual need to steal. With every stolen object comes a plan. This plan feeds the part of me that calculates—once upon a time, calculation helped me remove myself emotionally from an otherwise devastating childhood in an equally devastating environment; calculation helped me plot and scheme and become intelligent. Nobody could calculate a plan like I could, so thorough and patient with the details, never leaving anything to chance. This calculation was like a drug, I got addicted to it. It helped me forget the painful memories because one cannot feel pain when one cannot feel.

Calculations led to a plan and a plan led to action. I did not feel remorse for the things I did, just as I did not feel pain, and this allowed me to savor the plan and its execution more, which allowed me to savor the end result. And what was the end result, you ask? Chaos. Yes, a nice, priceless object became mine as well, but the pricier the object, the more chaotic the result.

For example, nobody realizes when an old piece of silk goes missing from a shop. Maybe somebody will notice when he or she take inventory, if they take inventory, but is it the end of the world? The shop keep will chalk it up to a bad day and move on with his or her life. But a priceless object—ah! A one of a kind gem with some sort of magical property about it. Now, if _that_ goes missing, well . . .

The owner will probably kill whomever was on guard duty at the time and would then make a fuss to anyone who would listen; papers would run stories if the man was important enough or an investigation would take place if the object was rare enough. And the thief? The longer the thief goes free or the crime goes unsolved, the longer this chaos has time to take root. The more the owner will go crazy to have his priceless gem back. He will stop at nothing, sacrificing money, merchandise, business, and even people to get it back. But will he get it back? No. His precious little gem will go discarded in some dark corner of my den, never to be thought of again after its usefulness in producing the desired chaos has been worn out.

Eventually, if the man who owned the gem were sane, he would give up his search. He would do something to make his fortune back and continue his life as if the theft had never occurred. I rarely caused lasting damage and that was okay, because before the owners of the preverbal priceless gems of the world stopped producing their chaos, I was already on to my next mark.

Once upon a time, this was the chaos that fed me; this was the chaos that made me the legendary Youko Kurama. I did not want power. I did not necessarily even want fame—I just wanted to watch as I caused a harsh and unforgiving world to turn upside momentarily.

Now I would return to the same chaos; I _had_ returned to the same chaos. I was like a meth head with a habit, dying for his fix. This dream that had changed my world in such a profound way would be drowned out by this new chaos. And the best of it? I was nothing if not more daring now. I had lived my entire life with Yuusuke in that dream, so why not take a risk? Death isn't as big of a boogeyman to old men like me.

* * *

Yuusuke's POV

The tournament came and went and one of Eiki's friends had won. Since Eiki had won the tournament three years prior and this new king had served on Eiki's council, it was no surprise that very little, if any, of the old policy changed.

I had just lost my match when I found out he was alive. Yomi found me sitting with Hiei. Hiei and Makuro were having one of their creepy read-between-the-lines conversations and I was barely keeping up with the hidden meaning when Yomi asked me if Kurama had returned to the human world since returning to his Youko body. Hiei seemed to have been taken off guard as well and I presumed that he had also thought Kurama dead for the past 250 or so days.

Yomi could only provide a little explanation—He had seen Youko in a town in the deep south of demon world. He had been at a bar, dressed in old rags with his face hidden, but Yomi knew his scent and energy signature. When he had approached Youko, he was not warmly received. After fox-boy asked some vague question about Yomi's "Journey of New Truths" with Shorin, he had hastily finished his Ogre Kill and made to leave. Yomi had stopped him, asking why he was so far south. Youko looked at him and pulled down his hood showing a crooked smile. "Why do leopards have spots?" he had asked before pushing past Yomi and leaving. Yomi had tried to follow, but Youko's energy and smell had seemingly disappeared before leaving any trail to follow.

When I asked him about this strange question, Yomi said that it reminded him of the riddles the fox used to use when he was still a thief. Foxes, apparently, are notorious for playing games with their victims and Youko's favorite games always involved a riddle. Yomi explained that the answer to Youko's question had been "for camouflage," and had insisted it was a very simple riddle, meant only to tease.

The more I thought about it, the more it sort of made sense. I don't mean I understood _why_ Youko had asked the riddle, but rather, I understood the meaning behind it. Wherever Youko was, he would be there through the winter when his coat would hide him in his snowy surroundings. But why?

I looked at Hiei for some insights, but he had disappeared already.

* * *

Hiei's POV

I had heard rumors that a silver fox had taken residence in the southern regions around the same time I had heard of a string of thefts that lead south. It had not been hard to put two and two together, but I had remained unconvinced. The fox had reformed, or at least, he had made everyone believe he had reformed when he was a human. Even I had thought that he had gone soft, giving up his life of crime for his mother and friends. It seemed contradictory that he would return to that life once he lost the people he cared about, so I chalked the whole thing up to coincidence. The fox had always been a fool, but he had always spoken to truth. He was too wise to throw everything he had worked for in his new life away just for some shiny object.

Yomi had confirmed it, though. Youko Kurama was alive in his old body, taking up his old profession in the southern territories that would soon be inaccessible due to heavy winter storms.

I felt my Jagan glow with power. I would find Youko Kurama and pay him a visit before the first winter storm of the season hit.

* * *

AN 1 – If you guys haven't noticed so far, I've been trying to work in direct quotes from the show. "Journey of New Truths" is what Yomi called his retreat with his son Shorin at the end of the series. Ogre Kill is what Chuu drinks during the Dark Tournament. Also, at the of the series, Hiei calls Kurama "a pain that speaks the truth." I used a variation on this line as well.

There will be a delay before the next chapter-I move back to school this Saturday and things will get busy after that.


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